The Untainted Mind
by Tsuyo no seishin
Summary: When Naruto becomes a witness to an apparent act of murder, action must be taken to avoid repercussions for the leaf village. Pairings undecided.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:Hey anonymous people of the internet! It's me, FINALLY POSTING SOMETHING! This is my first fanfiction, and I hope you all enjoy it.**

**Chapter 1**

Behind his desk in the hokage tower, Hiruzen Sarutobi couldn't help but let out a sigh. The current object of his exasperation stood before him, an anbu operative with a hawk mask.

"You're sure he was the only witness? This _was_ a classified op for a reason." The anbu lowered his head further, but nodded nonetheless.

"He was alone, and the street was deserted, I made sure." The Hokage was about to respond when the anbu continued.

"And I'd like to apologize once more for my failure in not completing the mission sooner." The man seemed genuinely ashamed, and the third Hokage sighed once again.

"You made the right decision, you couldn't have accounted for his arrival on the scene, and going in any sooner would have been foolish."

The anbu perked up somewhat at this acknowledgement.

"Thank you Hokage-sama." with a quick bow. "By your leave."

"You may go." The anbu immediately disappeared upon hearing this.

The hokage sighed for what he hoped would be the last time today as he relaxed into his chair, and looked over to the 'witness', now sleeping on his couch.

Political assassination was never really his cup of tea, but in this particular instance he felt it was warranted.

The assassinee in question was relaying sensitive information to Iwa, but Naruto didn't know that, and neither would any of the villagers who might hear about the violent death of one of their council members.

Being only five years old, he might simply repress the memory, but Hiruzen couldn't risk village security on that.

He was going to have to call in Inoichi, the only member of the Yamanaka clan skilled and discreet enough to change the memories of others without their knowing.

It felt wrong to do this to such a young child, but he knew it was necessary.

* * *

Yamanaka Inoichi arrived in the hokage's office with considerably more energy than would be expected, considering the hour.

"Hokage-sama." addressed the clan head, kneeling before the man referred to as 'Kami no Shinobi'.

The aging man laughed heartily, "There is no need for such formality Inoichi-kun, we are old friends are we not?"

Inoichi laughed lightly and stood up, before speaking again "I assume by the urgency of your messenger that this is of dire importance."

Hiruzen's face immediately shifted, "I'm afraid so, I need you to perform a selective memory wipe on a very... _delicate_ target"

Inoichi's gaze shifted over to the sleeping form of Naruto Uzumaki.

"He saw the assassination of one of our esteemed council members, an operation which would be best kept under wraps." Inoichi nodded, he had come to trust this man absolutely, and decided that anything the hokage didn't tell him, he didn't need to know.

"You may begin whenever you're ready."

Inoichi sat down in the plush chair directly in front of the occupied couch, and placed his hand on Naruto's forehead.

* * *

Upon arriving in Naruto's mindscape he immediately knew something was wrong.

"Someone has tampered with this boys mind, and not in a good way."


	2. Chapter 2

The Yamanaka mind-roaming jutsu gave one a birds-eye view of the subject's psyche, and Inoichi did not like what he saw.

His mind was warped, in a subtle but meaningful way, meant to hamper his thoughts and dull his memory.

The organizational structures were shifted and stretched in unnatural ways. Given time to heal on it's own, it would appear that it had always been that way, and the damage would prove irreversible.

The Hokage had to be informed.

* * *

Inoichi sat up in his chair, and the Hokage immediately went on edge. "Is there anything wrong Inoichi? Usually it takes you at least 15 minutes or so to complete your work, you've only been under a few seconds."

"Unfortunately, yes." his voice growing tense, "Someone has damaged this boy's mind."

The third looked skeptical, "I know the villagers don't exactly treat him well, but surely th-"

"Not verbal abuse Hokage-sama, nor physical, the perpetrator attacked his mind directly."

At this, Hiruzen paled. "But... he seems fine... he isn't-"

"It's not intended to harm him, but to blunt his intellectual development, whoever did this was a highly capable psychic specialist." Inoichi spoke in a business-like tone, not hinting at the raging storm of thought trapped behind his steely eyes.

"Is there anything you can do to reverse the damage?" questioned the Hokage seriously.

As if waiting for that exact question, Inoichi let a rare smirk form, "Absolutely Hokage-sama, I'm not Konoha's foremost expert on the matter for nothing."

Hiruzen visibly relaxed, and pulled his pipe out from his desk. "Do you think you'll be able to discover who's responsible by looking through Naruto's mind?" he said as he stuffed tobacco into his pipe.

Inoichi donned a ponderous look, and after a moment spoke, "Possibly, but judging by their apparent skill level, the odds aren't in our favor."

"Anything you can do to narrow down the suspect pool would be helpful." said Hiruzen, now lighting his pipe with a minor fire jutsu.

"Of course Hokage-sama," replied Inoichi "being a ward of the state, I believe I need your permission to perform any sort of repair on his mind."

The Hokage snorted as he puffed on his pipe, "Always a stickler for rules, you have my permission."

Inoichi prepared to re-enter Naruto's mind when Hiruzen spoke up again, "And don't forget to wipe last night's memories too, that would be a rather embarrassing mistake to make."

Inoichi laughed lightly before responding, "I might have done just that had you not reminded me, interesting how we lose sight of such things in the moment."

Hiruzen nodded, and Inoichi sent his mind back into Naruto's with a few quick hand-seals.

* * *

Despite his boast to the Hokage, Inoichi knew this would not be easy, and would likely take several days work, 2-3 hours on the outside.

_"Well, better get to work." _and with a crack of his knuckles, he put to work his potent art-form.

_5 hours in-_

After getting the memory wipe out of the way, he began to work on the damage to the boy's psyche. If he had been much older this would've proved to be extremely difficult, but children's minds are malleable, making his job somewhat easier.

_1 day in-_

With the major damage out of the way, Inoichi could see that this boy would certainly live up to his legacy, at least intellectually. Having had a chance to link mind's directly with the fourth Hokage, he knew exactly how keen a mind the famed 'Yellow Flash' possessed.

_2 days in-_

Now having finished all but the most minuscule repairs, he revised his previous opinion, this boy was head and shoulders above even the most intelligent men he'd ever dealt with. The boy was dreaming, and Inoichi couldn't understand his dreams, because he was seeing them at least 5 times as fast! And on top of that, he had perfect eidetic memory, remembering every single thing he'd experienced since he was only a few months old.

_"Wait... if he caught a glimpse of the person who did this, and the perpetrator weren't aware of his memory, I might be able to find out who's responsible."_

_2 days and 2 hours in-_

After sifting through memories for 2 hours, Inoichi finally found what he was looking for.

* * *

Hiruzen had just finished his back-logged paperwork and was getting ready to leave Inoichi in the care of the anbu guard, when his eyes opened and he looked at the third Hokage with a look that spelled pain and death for someone in the world.

"What did you find Inoichi?" Inquired the Hokage with a slight tone of urgency.

"They're from my clan, and they're working for Danzo."


End file.
